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Vasiliy ShukshinScreenwriter, Actor, Director
Date of Birth: 25.07.1929
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Content:
- Early Life and Education
- Career Beginnings and Military Service
- Pursuit of Artistic Success
- Literary and Cinematic Breakthrough
- Prolific Years and Film Success
Early Life and Education
Vasily Makarovich Shukshin was born on July 25, 1929, in the village of Srostki, Biysk district, Altai Krai. His parents were simple peasants who were forced to join the collective farm during the 1930s. His father, Makar Leontyevich Shukshin, was a respected man in the village, but this did not save him from repression. After his arrest in 1933, he never saw his family again.
His mother, Maria Sergeevna Shukshina, who was left alone with two children, soon remarried a fellow villager, Pavel Kuksin. Vasily Makarovich always spoke fondly of his stepfather. He was a kind man, but the war took his life too. Thus, at the age of 13, Vasily became the main breadwinner in the family.
After graduating from the 7th grade, he entered the Biysk Automobile Technical School. However, he was unable to obtain a diploma due to the need to find a job.
Career Beginnings and Military Service
In 1947, Vasily got a job as a locksmith at the "Soyuzprommekhanizatsiya" trust. From there, he was first sent to Kaluga and then to Vladimir to work at a tractor factory. Vasily worked at various enterprises until he was drafted into the army in 1949. He served in the Navy, and his service went smoothly, but in 1953 he was discharged due to health reasons. The stomach ulcer that was discovered during the medical examination would bother the writer for the rest of his life.
It was in the army that Shukshin began writing his first short stories. Upon returning home, he passed the exams for a high school diploma and worked as a Russian language teacher in school. Later, Vasily Makarovich recalled that he was not a very good teacher, although he loved literature. It was then that he married for the first time, to a school teacher Maria Ivanovna Shumskaya.
Pursuit of Artistic Success
Shukshin soon realized that teaching and mechanics were not his path. He dreamed of Moscow, where he hoped to achieve success in literature and cinema. Maria did not hinder her husband. His mother also supported Vasily. She sold the cow and collected money, and in 1955, Shukshin set off to conquer the capital.
Vasily Shukshin's admission to VGIK (All-Union State Institute of Cinematography) became a story in itself. It is said that he arrived at the screenwriting faculty with a thick notebook in which his first stories were written in small handwriting. The woman in the admissions office, not wanting to read what he had written, told him that he had an impressive appearance and advised him to go to the acting department. There, Shukshin learned that there was such a profession as a director, and his decision was made. At the exam, Mikhail Romm reproached Vasily for not having read "War and Peace." Shukshin explained that, as the director of the school, he had to chop firewood so that the children would not freeze, and he had no time to read such thick books. It is said that because of this simplicity and unconventional views, Romm gave him an A+ and admitted him to the course.
In fact, Romm did not regret his decision. Vasily turned out to be a talented young man with extraordinary abilities. In 1956, he played his first role in a small episode in the film "Quiet Flows the Don." Two years later, director Marlen Khutsiev invited Shukshin to play the lead role in the film "Two Fyodors" (1958). The film's premiere was a success, and the young actor was noticed.
Personal life also brought changes for Vasily. In 1957, he wrote a letter to his wife Maria asking for a divorce, as he had fallen in love with another woman. Maria never gave Shukshin an official divorce, although she never held a grudge against him. In 1963, he married the daughter of writer Anatoly Safronov, Victoria, who gave birth to his daughter Ekaterina. A year later, Vasily entered into a marriage with actress Lidia Alexandrova.
In the USSR, it was not customary to talk about Vasily Shukshin's numerous love affairs, although there was nothing shameful in it. The actor was very amorous and, moreover, was very popular with women. While his first marriages were probably made out of fear of loneliness, his marriage to actress Lidia Fedoseyeva was solely out of love.
However, it was not love at first sight. Initially, Shukshin greatly disliked Fedoseyeva. He was the secretary of the Komsomol organization and held an important position. She, who had experienced real Leningrad poverty, did not like such "bigwigs." It was only later, when they began to communicate, that Lida realized that Vasily was of her "breed," but besides that, he was also kind and sympathetic.
Shukshin's romance with Fedoseyeva began in 1964 after the filming of the movie "What is it like at sea?" They talked all night long and realized that they were made for each other. Soon Vasily and Lidia got married. In 1967, their daughter Maria was born, and a year later, another daughter, Olga.
Literary and Cinematic Breakthrough
In the 1960s, Vasily Shukshin became an increasingly prominent figure in the USSR. In 1963, his first book "Rural Dwellers" was published, followed by the full-length film "Such a guy lives" (1964). The film, based on Shukshin's own short stories "Grinka Malyugin" and "Class Driver," received enthusiastic responses from audiences and was very well received in cinematic circles.
Shukshin had many plans but could not realize all of them. For example, he wanted to make a film about Stepan Razin, but the USSR State Committee for Cinematography rejected the proposal. The same thing happened with the script for the film "Boiling Point." Instead of these projects, the director managed to shoot two films based on his own short stories - "Your Son and Brother" (1965) and "Strange People" (1969). Thus ended the 1960s.
Prolific Years and Film Success
The years 1972-1974 were the most fruitful for Vasily Shukshin. As the director recalled, he once again applied to shoot a film about Stepan Razin, but instead was given the film "Stoves-Benches-Pews" (1972). For the main role, he invited his friend Leonid Kuravlev, who had starred in the film "Such a guy lives." However, Kuravlev unexpectedly refused and suggested that Shukshin himself play the role.
Vasily Makarovich did so. And he was not mistaken. The film was a great success with critics, who praised Shukshin's masterful and brilliant performance as Ivan Rastorguev. The public received the film more coolly. However, Shukshin's next film became truly popular. This was the film "Kalina Krasnaya" (1973).
The story of Yegor Prokudin, who is released from prison and tries to start life anew, shocked the audience. It should be noted that nothing like this had been filmed in the USSR before. Sergei Bondarchuk later said that after the premiere of the film, everyone applauded and cried. The film received numerous awards at various film festivals, and Shukshin was recognized as a true master.
The last days of filming coincided with an exacerbation of Shukshin's ulcer disease. V. Fomin recalled that Vasily Makarovich was literally melting away. He had terrible attacks from time to time and walked around pale as death. Despite the fact that the director had given up drinking after the birth of his children, this did not save him from his inevitable demise. On October 2, 1974, while working on the film "They Fought for the Motherland," Vasily Shukshin passed away.
A huge number of people came to say goodbye to the outstanding actor, director, and writer. And each one left a sprig of red viburnum, which soon became a symbol of simple, sincere, and truly popular art. Lidia Fedoseyeva often recalls her husband's words that in the modern world people hate each other more and more and have forgotten that they should do good. That's what Vasily Shukshin tried to convey to people through his work.
